Rowing device

ABSTRACT

An oar is provided with a pivotal paddle blade for selffeathering action on the return stroke without lifting the paddle blade out of the water. When two such cars are used in conventional oarlocks, the boat is rowed by merely moving the oar handles horizontally back and forth without the customary lowering of the handles on the return strokes. A boat may be propelled by a single on of such oars having a ball on the shaft of the oar to support the oar for pivotal movement in a vertical plane. The oar may thus be mounted on a transom bracket or on a pedestal housing in the bottom of the boat. By rotating the oar about its own axis to different positions, simple back and forth oscillation of the oar in different vertical planes will propel the boat backward, forward, sideways or in a turning movement, as desired.

United States Patent Gentemann [151 3,677,216 1 July 18,1972

[ ROWING DEVICE 21 Appl. No.: 59,049

[52] U.S. Cl ..ll5/24.l [51] Int. Cl. ....B63h 16/04, B63h 16/06 [58] Field of Search ..1 15/21, 24.1, 24.4, 24.6;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 44,373 9/1964 Norcross Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Gregory W. O'Connor Attorney-Lee R. Schermerhom [57] ABSTRACT An oar is provided with a pivotal paddle blade for self-feathering action on the return stroke without lifiing the paddle blade out of the water. When two such cars are used in conventional oarlocks, the boat is rowed by merely moving the car handles horizontally back and forth without the customary lowering of the handles on the retum' strokes. A boat may be propelled by a single on of such oars having a ball on the shaft of the oar to support the oar for pivotal movement in a vertical plane. The oar may thus be mounted on a transom bracket or on a pedestal housing in the bottom of the boat. By rotating the oar about its own axis to difierent positions, simple back and forth oscillation of the oar in different vertical planes will propel the boat backward, forward, sideways or in a turning movement, as desired.

8 Clairm, 12 Drawing Figures Patented July 18, 1972 3,677,216

2 SheetsSheet 1 F76 6 F/G 1 INVENTOP ARTHUPJ GENTEMANN ATTOPNE Y Patented July 18, 1972 2. Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG 10' FIG 7 /NVEI\lTO/-'?- I ARTHUR J. GENTEMA/UN BY 0. W

ATTOQNEY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a rowing device in the nature of an oar having a pivotal self-feathering paddle blade which does not have to be lifted out of the water on the return stroke.

In order to row a boat effectively with conventional oars, the operator must acquire some degree of skill and have considerable strength in order to manipulate the oars efficiently. On the power stroke he must dip the oars sufficiently to get them submerged but at the same time he must avoid digging them too deeply into the water. On the return stroke he must lift the blades above the water and if there are waves he must lift them high enough to clear the waves.

This involves a combination of vertical and horizontal movements requiring a degree of coordination which is not always easy for the novice to acquire. While he is giving attention to one oar, the other oar may move erratically. It takes considerable practice to coordinate the movements of two cars in an efficient stroke which will propel the boat in a straight line without meandering first in one direction and then the other, particularly since the operator must face rearward and cannot see where he is going.

Also, it is sometimes desirable to be able to propel a boat with a single oar or paddle. Conventional oars are not adapted for this type of propulsion.

Objects of the invention are, therefore, to provide an improved rowing device, to provide an oar with a self-feathering blade which does not have to be lifted out of the water on the return stroke, to provide a rowing device which is operable with a single oar, and to provide a rowing device which permits the operator to face forward.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present construction the oar has a pivotal paddle blade which is self-feathering under water so that the blade does not have to be lifted out of the water on the return stroke. This allows the operator to move the oar handles horizontally back and forth without the necessity of raising the handles on the power stroke and lowering the handles on the return stroke. Eliminating the vertical movements greatly facilitates the learning process for a novice and makes it much easier to coordinate the movements of his two hands. This adds greatly to the pleasure and efficiency of a person who uses a rowboat only occasionally. Another advantage is that the operator may face forward instead of backward.

The present oar is also capable of applications which are not possible with a conventional oar. It can be mounted on the stern of the boat or at a point intermediate with the bow and stem for sweeping movements in a vertical plane. Then by rotating the oar to a certain extent, the boat may be turned or propelled sideways as well as forward and backward. A directional handgrip is provided so that the operator will know at all times how the blade is turned relative to the boat.

The invention will be better understood and additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts and certain features may be used without others. All such modifications within the scope of the appended claims are included in the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary side elevation view showing an oar embodying the invention used in a conventional oarlock;

FIG. 2 is a view on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view on the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view on the line 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view on the line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation view, showing an oar embodying the invention mounted on the stern of a boat;

FIG. 7 is a view on the line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view on the line 8-8 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation view, showing an oar embodying the invention mounted inside the boat;

FIG. 10 is a view on the line 10-10 in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a view on the line 11-11 in FIG. 10 and FIG. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modified form of mounting for the oar in FIG. 6 or FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. I the boat B has a conventional U-shaped oarlock 10 which is pivotally mounted on the side of the boat to swivel on a vertical axis. The oar 12 has a conventional bearing element 13 to rest in the oarlock l0 and a ball 15 which serves as a flange or stop to prevent the oar from sliding longitudinally through the oarlock. The drawing shows only the oar and oarlock on the right side of the boat; there is a similar oar and oarlock on the left side, not shown.

A paddle blade 20 has a pair of back turned apertured ears 21 pivotally mounted on a pin 22 at the outer end of the oar shaft. A coil spring 23 on the pin 22 resiliently urges the paddle 20 back against the shaft of the oar so that the paddle is normally approximately parallel with the shaft as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Blade 20 preferably curves slightly in a backward direction as seen in FIG. I.

The inner end of oar shaft 12 is equipped with a directional handgrip 24 having finger grooves 25 in its forward side and a smooth palm-engaging surface 26 on its rear side with reference to the normal grasp for rowing shown in FIG. 1. Smooth side 26 faces in the same direction as the concave side of blade 20 and finger grooves 25 face in the same direction as the convex side of blade 20. Thus, the operator can orient the paddle blade 20 by the feel of the handgrip without observing the paddle itself.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the return stroke may be made with the paddle submerged, the forward movement of the paddle through the water causing the paddle to pivot backward to a feathering position as best illustrated in the modification in FIG. 8. The slight curvature of the blade has an airfoil action in the water during the return stroke which assists the spring 23 in returning the blade to normal position for the next power stroke. The spring force increases as the angle between the paddle and shaft increases and diminishes to light pressure or no pressure in the FIG. 4 position. Thus, the self-feathering action of paddle blade 20 permits the handle of the oar to be moved back and forth in substantially a straight line at the same level for both power and return strokes.

This improved rowing action makes it convenient for the operator to reverse the normal stroking used with conventional oars. With conventional oars it is most convenient to pull on the handles for a power stroke and push on the handles during the return or recovery stroke. This requires the operator to face the stern so that he cannot see where he is going. In using the present self-feathering oars the power stroke may be effectively exerted by a pushing movement and the oars returned by a pulling movement. This reversal of movements enables the operator to face the bow so that he can see where he is going, as shown in FIG. 1.

The oar is shown in solid lines at the completion of the power stroke which has been a thrust stroke of the operator's arm and the oar is shown in broken lines at the end of the return stroke which is exerted by a pulling movement of the operator's arms. This reversal of the stroking action is found to be less fatiguing when the operator does not have to coordinate vertical movements with the horizontal movements of the oars, the paddle blades 20 remaining continuously submerged without ever being lifted out of the water.

The oars may, however, be lifted out of the water on the return stroke if desired. But when the water is choppy the paddle blades 20 do not have to be lifted high enough to clear the crests of the waves. Any waves impinging against the backs of the paddles will merely deflect them to feathered positions without impeding the forward progress of the boat. This avoids the fatigue of returning the paddles at an abnormally high level in choppy water.

The shaft 12 is preferable made in two pieces as shown in FIG. for convenience in carrying the oars. A tubular shaft portion 30 is arranged to telescope within a tubular shaft portion 31. A U-shaped leaf spring 32 has one end 33 connected with tube 30 and a free end 34 equipped with a stud 35 pro jecting through an opening in tube 30. Stud 35 is arranged to lock in an opening 36 in tube 31 to connect the tubes 30 and 31 together. Tube 30 may be withdrawn by pressing stud 35 inward to disengsge the hole 36 or the shafi may be shortened by engaging stud 35 in a difierent hole 36 in FIG. 3.

In FIGS.'6, 7 and 8, the oar is supported in vertical position by a bracket 40 which is mounted on the transom 41 of the boat by a pair of C-clamps 42 or other suitable means. The rear side of bracket 40 is provided with a slot 43 to admit the oarinto a circular opening having a conical or spherical bearing surface 44 to seat the ball 15. Ball is preferably a plastic ball cemented to shaft tube 31. Bracket 40 is preferably mounted in a position to place the car on the longitudinal center line of the boat.

When the oar is pivoted fore and aft in a vertical plane between positions 12a and 12b, the boat will be propelled either forward or backward depending upon the orientation of paddle Forforward movement the paddle is oriented as shown in FIG. 8 where the arrow 45 indicates the direction of the propelling stroke with the paddle extended downward and arrow 46 indicates the direction of the return stroke with the paddle pivoted or feathered upward.

Again, the orientation of paddle 20 is indicated by the orientation of directional handgrip 24. By rotating the handgrip and oar 180 on its own axis, the position of blade 20 is reversed, causing the same backward andforward movement of the handle to produce backward movement of the boat. When the oar is rotated to turn the paddle at right angles to its position shown in FIG. 8, transverse movement of the handle of the oar will swing the stern of the boat laterally to the left or to the right. When the concave side of paddle 20 faces toward the left, the stern of the boat will swing to the right and when the concave side faces to the right, the stern will swing to the left, the operator being aware at all times of the orientation of paddle 20 by observing the orientation of finger grooves in handgrip 24.

A similarbracket may be used for mounting an oar in outboard position on a canoe or rubber raft.

In FIGS. 9, l0 and 11 the oar is supported in vertical position on a pedestal housing 50 on the bottom of the boat. I-Iousing 50 provides a watertight enclosure around an opening 51 in the bottom of the boat through which the oar extends. In

- this arrangement the ball 15 seats on a conical or spherical bearing surface 52 defining a circular opening in a top plate 53 on housing 50 on the center line of the boat. A T-shaped slot having a transverse portion 54 and a longitudinal portion 55 admits the paddle 20 and lower end of the oar into housing 50 in order to seat ball 15 on the bearing surface 52.

To propel the boat forward or backward the oar handle is oscillated fore and aft in a vertical plane between the limit positions indicated by lines 60 and 61. The direction of travel is reversed by rotating the oar 180 on the axis of its shaft as indicated by arrows 62 and 63. In the rotational position shown at 12 in FIG. 11 fore and aft oscillation of the oar would move the boat to the left while in the rotational position of the oar shown at 12c, fore and aft oscillation of the oar would move the boat to the right. By rotating the oar 90 from either one of these positions, the boat may be shifted sideways by oscillating the oar handle in a transverse vertical plane, the direction of movement of the boat depending upon the FIG. 6.

A slow turning movement comparable to rudder action during forward or astem travel may be produced in both mounting arrangements shown in FIGS. 6 and 9 by rotating handgrip 24 and paddle 20 less than from normal ahead or astern positions and then oscillating the oar in a vertical plane at a corresponding angle to the vertical reference plane through the longitudinal center line of the boat. In all cases the plane of oscillation of the oar should be perpendicular to the general plane of paddle 20.

In the modification in FIG. 12, a horizontal supporting plate 70 has an upward facing conical or spherical bearing surface 71 to seat the ball 15 as described in connection with FIGS. 8 and 11. There is additionally provided an overlying plate 72 having a downward facing conical or spherical bearing surface 73 to hold the ball seated on surface 71. The two surfaces 71 and 73 form a spherical socket which holds the oar in working position while permitting it to rotate and oscillate in all directions. This form of construction may be used in each of FIGS. 8 and l 1 when it is not desired to remove the oar.

Having now described my invention and in what manner the same may be used, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An oar comprising a shaft, said shaft comprising a pair of telescoping tubes and means securing said tubes together selectively in extended and retracted positions, a self-feathering paddle blade mounted for swinging movement on a transverse pivot pin in one end of said shaft, a coil spring on said pin arranged to urge said paddle blade into a position approximately parallel with said shaft, a handgrip on the opposite end of said shaft having finger grooves on one side and a smooth palm rest on its opposite side whereby the handgrip is directional for determining the orientation of said paddle blade, and a bearing element on an intermediate portion of said shaft supporting said shaft for rotation of the shaft on its axis by rotation of said handgrip.

2. An oar as defined in claim 1, said bearing element being adapted to fit an oarlock.

3. An oar as defined in claim 1, said bearing element having a spherical bearing surface.

4. An oar as defined in claim 3 including a supporting fulcrum having a spherical bearing surface arranged to engage said bearing element and support said oar for rotative movements and back and forth movements in a vertical plane.

5. An oar as defined in claim 4, said supporting fulcrum being mounted in outboard position on a boat.

6. An oar as defined in claim 4, said supporting fulcrum being mounted on a pedestal housing on the bottom of a boat and said oar extending through an opening in the bottom of the boat enclosed by said housing.

7. An oar as defined in claim 4, said supporting fulcrum comprising a horizontal plate having a slot for insertion and removal of the oar.

8. An oar as defined in claim 4, said bearing element on said shaft comprising a ball and said supporting fulcrum comprising a spherical socket containing said ball. 

1. An oar comprising a shaft, said shaft comprising a pair of telescoping tubes and means securing said tubes together selectively in extended and retracted positions, a selffeathering paddle blade mounted for swinging movement on a transverse pivot pin in one end of said shaft, a coil spring on said pin arranged to urge said paddle blade into a position approximately parallel with said shaft, a handgrip on the opposite end of said shaft having finger grooves on one side and a smooth palm rest on its opposite side whereby the handgrip is directional for determining the orientation of said paddle blade, and a bearing element on an intermediate portion of said shaft supporting said shaft for rotation of the shaft on its axIs by rotation of said handgrip.
 2. An oar as defined in claim 1, said bearing element being adapted to fit an oarlock.
 3. An oar as defined in claim 1, said bearing element having a spherical bearing surface.
 4. An oar as defined in claim 3 including a supporting fulcrum having a spherical bearing surface arranged to engage said bearing element and support said oar for rotative movements and back and forth movements in a vertical plane.
 5. An oar as defined in claim 4, said supporting fulcrum being mounted in outboard position on a boat.
 6. An oar as defined in claim 4, said supporting fulcrum being mounted on a pedestal housing on the bottom of a boat and said oar extending through an opening in the bottom of the boat enclosed by said housing.
 7. An oar as defined in claim 4, said supporting fulcrum comprising a horizontal plate having a slot for insertion and removal of the oar.
 8. An oar as defined in claim 4, said bearing element on said shaft comprising a ball and said supporting fulcrum comprising a spherical socket containing said ball. 